Question: Why do we have the body, the physical?

Sri Chinmoy: We need the body, the physical, for the manifestation here. In the soul’s region there is no manifestation. For the realisation of the Divine on earth we have to come here. The soul may realise something here on earth; then it goes up for some time and stays in the higher worlds with its realisation. But for the manifestation, it has to be here in the body. The body is the outer structure. Now, here we are talking about the spiritual life. Here is a building, a house of this university. If there is no house, no room, no hall, where are we going to give a lecture? Similarly, the soul is inside the body. As I said, it is the inner deity. It needs a temple. Everything needs protection, outer protection. If we don’t have a house, where will we live? In the street? No, we will be blown away. We will be destroyed. Similarly, we need a body in order to house the eternal wealth within us. This body lasts for fifty, sixty or seventy years. Then the body dies because it is not in tune with the eternal Life, whereas the soul is always in tune with the eternal Life. Here on earth God feels that His Absolute Manifestation must take place. For that He needs the outer structure, and this body plays that role.

The soul has realised the Truth, but the soul has to reveal and manifest the Truth. For revelation and manifestation the soul needs an instrument and that instrument happens to be the body. Without the body we cannot reveal and we cannot manifest any Truth. For revelation of the Truth and manifestation of the Truth, the soul must needs have the physical body.